Evan Mahnken author page
11 puzzles by Evan Mahnken
with Constructor comments
See the 41 answer words debuted by Evan Mahnken.
| E | B | A | Y | T | I | K | I | B | E | G | E | T | ||
| M | O | L | E | O | N | U | S | A | M | O | R | E | ||
| M | O | U | T | H | W | A | S | H | H | I | T | O | N | |
| A | T | M | E | A | C | H | G | O | D | S | ||||
| A | I | W | A | S | L | U | R | P | E | E | ||||
| H | A | N | D | S | A | N | I | T | I | Z | E | R | ||
| T | W | E | E | T | Y | K | Y | L | O | I | S | U | ||
| M | E | W | S | E | N | E | P | S | A | S | ||||
| L | D | S | R | E | D | O | C | R | E | O | L | E | ||
| W | I | N | D | O | W | C | L | E | A | N | E | R | ||
| O | P | O | S | S | U | M | H | U | N | T | ||||
| A | I | R | S | L | A | T | E | S | P | A | ||||
| S | E | T | U | P | S | A | L | T | W | A | T | E | R | |
| E | T | H | E | R | T | Y | K | E | H | A | R | M | ||
| S | A | Y | S | O | U | S | S | R | A | R | T | Y |
As a chemistry teacher, I can't believe it's taken me this long to make a chem-themed puzzle! And I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament tomorrow. Happy (dis)solving!
| U | P | S | A | D | A | M | S | W | A | C | K | O | ||
| N | H | L | G | I | J | O | E | I | L | H | A | N | ||
| J | O | A | N | O | F | A | R | C | C | L | I | N | E | |
| A | N | N | O | R | E | T | I | C | E | N | T | |||
| M | Y | G | O | S | H | S | C | A | R | |||||
| B | O | O | B | Y | E | N | G | E | L | S | ||||
| W | I | G | A | L | O | E | S | I | K | E | A | |||
| A | D | R | O | P | I | N | T | H | E | O | C | E | A | N |
| R | E | A | L | D | I | A | N | A | S | H | E | |||
| M | A | D | D | O | W | S | M | O | K | E | ||||
| S | P | A | S | W | Y | V | E | R | N | |||||
| S | U | P | E | R | P | A | C | A | C | A | I | |||
| S | A | R | I | N | A | S | I | F | I | C | A | R | E | |
| T | R | A | C | E | S | I | T | A | R | R | E | C | ||
| P | A | L | E | D | M | A | I | N | S | D | R | E |
I spent way too long thinking of words that contain BUC or KET before I tweaked my theme just a bit. Happy solving!
| P | I | N | P | A | T | E | N | T | F | D | I | C | ||
| E | S | E | O | L | I | V | E | R | T | E | R | I | ||
| R | A | W | F | O | O | T | A | G | E | M | B | A | S | |
| P | I | E | R | R | E | A | S | P | E | R | ||||
| S | A | R | I | M | I | T | R | A | I | M | I | |||
| H | A | L | F | B | A | K | E | D | I | D | E | A | S | |
| L | I | E | G | E | W | O | E | F | U | L | ||||
| A | N | G | T | M | I | H | E | R | S | I | A | |||
| C | O | R | O | N | A | P | O | E | T | S | ||||
| C | O | O | K | E | D | T | H | E | B | O | O | K | S | |
| T | R | U | S | S | E | D | S | D | I | C | E | |||
| P | I | S | A | N | S | O | O | T | H | E | ||||
| P | R | I | G | B | U | R | N | T | U | M | B | E | R | |
| E | D | E | N | B | R | E | Y | E | R | A | M | I | ||
| P | A | S | S | R | E | N | E | W | S | G | E | E |
I hope you find this puzzle to be ... well done.
*Rimshot*
| M | A | P | S | N | O | O | T | N | P | A | D | S | ||
| O | R | E | T | O | R | T | E | L | I | N | E | S | ||
| I | C | E | B | E | T | C | H | A | L | L | E | N | G | E |
| O | K | A | P | I | E | L | A | M | ||||||
| R | O | T | F | L | H | O | R | N | B | |||||
| S | T | O | N | E | L | S | T | R | A | M | ||||
| I | S | A | O | B | R | O | N | Z | E | S | T | A | R | |
| N | B | C | C | O | R | A | I | L | A | H | A | |||
| T | A | K | E | C | R | E | D | I | T | P | L | E | D | |
| R | O | T | H | T | I | L | N | E | E | R | ||||
| S | N | O | O | P | M | S | D | O | S | |||||
| W | R | A | P | A | R | T | O | O | ||||||
| F | I | V | E | D | O | L | L | A | R | W | O | R | D | S |
| A | D | O | R | E | F | E | L | L | A | Z | O | O | ||
| B | O | X | E | R | A | S | S | A | Y | O | R | B |
I hope this crossword can be a fun diversion in these troubling times. Stay safe and healthy, everyone!
| M | A | Z | D | A | S | H | E | R | O | D | H | M | O | S | E | A | S | |||
| O | N | E | A | C | T | A | D | O | B | E | E | E | L | U | C | L | A | |||
| A | N | S | W | E | R | I | N | G | M | A | C | H | I | N | E | R | O | A | R | |
| N | U | T | S | E | G | G | Y | M | A | U | N | A | S | E | L | M | A | |||
| A | L | S | O | R | A | N | S | A | F | R | I | C | A | N | L | I | O | N | ||
| N | E | M | O | I | R | E | L | E | E | W | A | Y | ||||||||
| P | A | T | A | E | R | A | T | O | R | S | W | I | N | G | B | Y | ||||
| S | Q | U | I | R | R | E | L | E | D | A | W | A | Y | L | O | O | I | E | ||
| A | U | L | D | E | M | S | E | V | E | S | T | O | T | O | ||||||
| T | A | I | L | I | N | G | C | R | O | A | K | E | D | D | E | W | ||||
| P | E | R | S | U | A | S | I | V | E | W | R | I | T | I | N | G | ||||
| P | C | B | S | A | L | I | N | A | S | T | A | P | E | R | E | D | ||||
| U | H | U | H | F | R | O | G | A | H | A | H | I | L | O | ||||||
| G | A | L | A | S | S | W | O | R | D | A | N | D | S | H | I | E | L | D | ||
| S | I | B | L | I | N | G | E | D | U | C | A | T | E | F | A | O | ||||
| F | L | O | R | A | L | A | S | L | M | R | E | D | ||||||||
| A | V | O | C | A | D | O | R | O | L | L | D | I | A | L | E | C | T | S | ||
| S | O | L | O | S | A | T | E | I | T | W | E | A | N | B | O | O | P | |||
| A | C | L | U | K | N | O | W | S | A | T | H | I | N | G | O | R | T | W | O | |
| H | A | I | R | L | E | I | P | L | I | E | S | E | D | I | T | E | D | |||
| I | B | E | T | M | R | S | S | K | E | E | T | R | E | S | A | L | E |
DAVID: It was a pleasure working with Evan on his first Sunday crossword! He initially proposed a 15x15 version of the theme with answers that scrambled Utah, Ohio, Maine, and Oregon. Curious to see whether it was possible to scramble states with longer names, I wrote a Java program to mine a large word list for options. When I discovered that the 12-letter West Virginia could be scrambled within PERSUASIVE WRITING, I knew we were on to something! Evan sifted through my program's output to find the other six theme answers, and he took the lead on designing and filling the grid. We considered several fills before settling on the one you see, which we felt had the fewest obscurities. Most of the clues are Evan's.
Will Shortz held our puzzle in his queue for a while to space it out from Alan Arbesfeld's somewhat similar Altered States puzzle from October 9 of last year. Speaking of somewhat similar crosswords, we also strove to differentiate our puzzle from Bruce Haight's May 16, 2017 offering as much as we could. Both puzzles use AFRICAN LION, though, since it's one of just a few possible answers that scramble the letters of "California" consecutively.
Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage any new/newish constructors who feel intimidated by Sunday-size crosswords to take the plunge. Evan was initially nervous about constructing his first 21x21, but he did so well on structuring and filling this larger grid that I would've guessed he'd been constructing Sundays for years if he hadn't told me otherwise!
EVAN: I was indeed quite nervous about making a Sunday-size puzzle. It's daunting: there's so much white space, and you want to get the fill silky-smooth. David wasn't willing to compromise on any sub-par fill, and the puzzle you see here is the result. I think we're both quite proud of it. The task of making a Sunday-size puzzle on my own doesn't seem so bad now. I hope to make some more when I have my summer off. Happy solving!
| J | I | M | L | A | M | A | S | D | E | B | R | A | ||
| E | N | O | O | R | O | N | O | A | L | L | E | N | ||
| S | T | R | A | W | M | A | N | F | A | L | L | A | C | Y |
| T | R | E | X | E | S | T | I | L | E | S | ||||
| S | O | L | E | O | P | E | R | A | T | O | P | |||
| S | L | I | P | P | E | R | Y | S | L | O | P | E | ||
| S | E | E | P | A | F | A | R | |||||||
| P | O | T | O | M | A | C | B | I | R | D | F | L | U | |
| A | S | H | E | P | U | L | P | |||||||
| C | H | E | R | R | Y | P | I | C | K | I | N | G | ||
| T | A | R | W | A | R | E | S | A | R | O | N | |||
| A | M | A | N | A | P | O | T | A | T | O | ||||
| M | O | V | I | N | G | G | O | A | L | P | O | S | T | S |
| O | N | E | N | D | U | D | D | E | R | S | E | E | ||
| W | O | N | K | A | E | S | S | A | Y | Y | R | S |
This was a fun puzzle to write and brainstorm. I looked through hundreds of logical fallacies to find a good set and learned a lot in the process. Did you know there's a Fallacy Fallacy that says that just because someone used a logical fallacy doesn't mean their argument is inherently wrong? Has the word "fallacy" lost all meaning yet?
My favorite left on the cutting room floor: "I'm not bad at running a movie theater, you are!" for PROJECTION.
Happy solving!
| T | R | A | P | A | M | O | K | N | I | N | J | A | ||
| R | E | M | O | L | A | M | A | I | M | A | C | S | ||
| O | V | A | L | I | N | I | T | P | O | U | C | H | ||
| J | O | N | L | O | V | I | T | Z | P | U | S | H | ||
| A | K | A | L | E | A | G | O | T | E | A | M | |||
| N | E | S | T | S | C | S | P | A | N | A | S | A | ||
| E | E | K | H | A | L | S | T | E | W | |||||
| J | E | N | N | I | F | E | R | L | O | P | E | Z | ||
| C | O | L | D | C | E | E | O | R | C | |||||
| D | A | D | S | K | Y | P | E | G | A | N | G | S | ||
| S | N | O | R | E | S | N | S | A | O | R | U | |||
| B | R | I | M | J | A | S | O | N | M | R | A | Z | ||
| N | A | A | C | P | A | M | I | N | A | U | D | I | ||
| C | E | D | A | R | Y | O | G | I | I | S | E | E | ||
| O | Z | O | N | E | Z | I | N | C | S | H | A | Q |
This is a bit of an odd theme, and apparently Will Shortz and company were on the fence about it for quite some time. Of course, I'm glad they gave it the go-ahead in the end! I came up with this theme after doing a fairly run-of-the-mill initialism puzzle in the Times a while back (no offense to whoever's puzzle that was!). I was trying to think of the jazziest possible initialism revealer, and Jay-Z sprung to mind right away. Unfortunately, JACOB ZUMA doesn't exactly make for great crossword fare, and there wasn't much else besides. But it occurred to me that the dash could also be interpreted as "to", as in going from J to Z.
Maybe you'll find it to be a bit of a stretch, but I at least hope you enjoy this rather Scrabbly Tuesday offering. Happy solving!
| B | A | R | B | E | D | G | A | R | S | W | A | B | ||
| A | R | E | A | A | A | A | B | A | T | T | E | R | Y | |
| B | E | T | T | E | R | Y | O | U | T | H | A | N | M | E |
| A | N | I | M | A | L | S | S | T | O | I | C | |||
| S | A | P | O | R | F | E | Y | N | E | C | K | |||
| B | A | S | S | O | S | A | P | |||||||
| V | I | C | T | O | R | I | A | F | A | L | L | S | ||
| W | I | L | H | E | L | M | S | C | R | E | A | M | ||
| T | H | R | E | E | P | O | I | N | T | E | R | S | ||
| B | I | T | N | O | V | E | L | |||||||
| S | M | U | G | C | O | G | M | I | T | E | S | |||
| O | L | S | O | N | T | H | E | N | I | L | E | |||
| D | I | S | A | P | P | E | A | R | I | N | G | A | C | T |
| I | V | O | R | Y | T | O | W | E | R | U | N | I | T | |
| N | Y | S | E | O | N | S | E | T | S | A | D | E |
Super excited to have my first themeless in the New York Times! I'm sure WILHELM SCREAM will get some mixed reviews. Even if you haven't heard the term, you've probably heard the scream. It's been in Star Wars, Indiana Jones and a lot more movies.
And the voice belongs to Sheb Wooley of "Purple People Eater" fame!
Even if the entry strikes you as too esoteric, I hope you learned something interesting! Happy solving!
| H | E | R | O | M | U | R | A | L | A | P | E | ||
| U | V | E | X | P | O | S | U | R | E | L | I | D | |
| L | E | T | F | R | E | E | D | O | M | R | I | N | G |
| A | S | D | O | I | R | E | D | O | T | O | E | ||
| R | C | A | P | U | T | T | S | ||||||
| F | O | L | D | E | R | S | G | A | E | L | |||
| E | V | A | I | N | A | C | O | R | N | E | R | ||
| D | U | D | N | O | V | O | T | E | B | O | O | ||
| M | I | D | D | L | E | M | A | N | I | L | L | ||
| E | Y | E | D | E | N | T | I | T | L | E | |||
| A | T | S | I | X | A | H | A | ||||||
| S | O | O | N | W | E | I | O | M | E | G | A | ||
| F | I | N | G | E | R | S | C | R | O | S | S | E | D |
| A | L | L | L | I | Q | U | I | D | A | T | E | D | |
| R | E | Y | I | T | S | S | O | M | A | S | S |
I just had my graduation ceremony for my Master of Arts in Teaching program yesterday, so what better way to celebrate than having my third crossword in the New York Times! FINGERS CROSSED that things go well in my first year as a Chemistry teacher. This one goes out to everyone who helped me make it this far.
Jeff Chen of xwordinfo.com likes to mention Crucivera, the God of Crosswords, who sometimes deigns to smile on a puzzle and grant it perfect symmetry of theme answers. Not this puzzle. For this puzzle, Crucivera beat me up and took my lunch money. Crossing themes are difficult to grid because of all the letters locked into place, and this one was no exception.
It took me a few iterations to get it right — thanks to Will and the team for their patience. While there are a couple of compromises in the fill (especially the SW corner), here's hoping that the bonuses and the theme are enough to make up for it. Here's hoping you enjoy the solve!
| D | E | C | L | A | R | E | S | W | I | P | E | S | ||
| E | M | A | I | L | I | N | G | T | E | R | E | S | A | |
| F | O | R | B | I | D | D | E | N | P | L | A | N | E | T |
| A | T | A | R | I | R | E | A | C | T | |||||
| M | E | T | A | S | H | E | S | T | H | E | M | A | N | |
| E | S | S | O | U | I | E | R | A | ||||||
| M | A | S | T | E | R | O | M | I | T | S | ||||
| W | E | S | T | S | I | D | E | S | T | O | R | Y | ||
| I | W | I | S | H | T | O | M | A | T | O | ||||
| L | I | N | I | M | O | M | A | Y | ||||||
| K | I | S | S | M | E | K | A | T | E | T | I | R | E | |
| A | E | S | O | P | D | I | S | C | S | |||||
| S | H | A | K | E | S | P | E | A | R | E | P | L | A | Y |
| T | A | L | E | S | E | S | T | A | M | P | E | D | E | |
| U | N | I | S | E | X | M | Y | S | I | D | E | S |
It's been a little while since my debut, but I'm thrilled to be back in the New York Times Crossword! Every year, I visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with my family — I highly recommend it if you find yourself near Ashland, Oregon. While I was there last year, I was thinking of themes that hadn't yet been done involving Shakespeare, and this one seemed pretty promising.
My original theme set was the same, but with THRONE OF BLOOD (a Kurosawa film based on Macbeth) included instead of the SHAKESPEARE PLAY revealer. Will and the team thought it was too obscure. I'm inclined to agree with them.
I'm very glad they kept in my favorite clue at 4-Down. My only regret is that TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU is a little too long to fit in this puzzle.
Happy solving!
| A | R | I | O | R | B | I | T | S | U | L | N | A | ||
| M | E | N | E | A | R | N | E | D | N | E | E | D | ||
| A | F | T | E | R | H | O | U | R | S | D | O | W | D | |
| R | U | H | R | W | I | N | Y | E | N | S | ||||
| N | E | A | R | M | I | N | T | G | E | R | A | R | D | |
| A | L | T | O | R | I | S | E | T | F | R | E | E | ||
| B | O | R | E | D | O | M | I | D | E | A | ||||
| B | I | D | E | M | O | N | R | O | L | L | ||||
| E | G | A | N | L | I | E | I | D | L | E | ||||
| G | O | R | E | T | E | X | C | U | E | G | A | I | ||
| S | T | E | A | D | Y | B | Y | I | T | S | E | L | F | |
| N | I | T | S | P | L | O | U | N | T | O | ||||
| M | E | S | H | A | R | O | U | N | D | N | O | O | N | |
| E | X | A | M | G | O | A | T | E | E | M | I | L | ||
| S | T | Y | E | E | S | T | H | E | R | E | D | Y |
It was a big goal of mine to get a puzzle accepted into the Times before I turned 21, and I just barely got there. And boy, it was not easy. With six theme clues in the puzzle, it was tough to get them all to fit nicely, and it meant completely changing the grid and reworking the fill many times during the revision process. I learned a lot from it though, and I hope my next submissions won't require quite so much tinkering. I'm very happy with the final result.
As for the theme, I'd had the idea floating around for awhile but didn't think it'd amount to a full crossword's worth of clues. The first one I came up with was BY ITSELF, and I at the time I couldn't think of any more. But I revisited the idea, brainstormed a bunch, and managed to get six in total. My favorite is definitely BENEATH ME. I hope you enjoy this crossword as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Happy solving!